A Wide Appeal

Pickups Open New Doors For Physicially Challenged

December 29, 1996|By Russ DeVault, Cox News Service.

As a development engineer for Chevrolet, Paul Ulrich is understandably proud of the optional third door for General Motors' full-size and compact pickups. Perhaps even more significant, however, is the third door's value to disbled drivers.

"I'm a full-time wheelchair user who became one eight years ago after walking on my arms for 35 years," says Ulrich, who contracted polio in 1949. "When I saw the truck (a show model about three years ago), I saw another opportunity for personal transportation for people like myself."

The driver-side third door, Ulrich says, permits a wheelchair user to transfer from the chair to behind the wheel, fold the chair and--using the third door--stow the chair behind the seat.

There are two catches:

The wheelchair user, Ulrich notes, must have enough upper-body strength to make the chair-to-truck transfer and vice versa.

And the driver-side third door is an option ($345) only on S-10 trucks; it's on the passenger side on larger C/K trucks. And it's on extended-cab trucks.

Even so, that's hardly the investment generally required for a large coupe or a van, prime choices for a disabled driver. Those unable to transfer from wheelchair to driver's seat generally have no choice but a van, which usually requires a loading system. A basic system adds about $2,500 to the vehicle, and conversions can cost as much as $40,000, according to Atlanta's Shepherd Center, a disability-oriented hospital that sponsors an Adaptive Van and Travel Show.

GM, Ulrich points out, offers rebates. "Mobility rebates up to $1,000 for adaptive equipment, no matter whether it's large mirrors or a left-foot throttle, are available on any new GM product," Ulrich says. "It's a 5-year-old program that now stands at 29,000 units."

Optional equipment will determine the final cost of a third-door S-10 pickup. The loaded test truck totaled $20,385, but not everyone needs an upscale stereo and special wheels and tires.

The basic S-10, which has had its reliability and crashworthiness questioned by Consumer Reports, is a reasonably comfortable, easy-driving truck. But it is a truck with the ride and driving characteristics generally associated with pickups. Power anti-lock brakes, the availability of four-wheel-drive and other refinements have made it a more desirable vehicle.

"Nearly 50 million people (in the U.S.) have disabilities, and the third-door truck could affect their ability to use personal transportation," Ulrich says.

For now, Chevrolet is the only manufacturer offering a driver-side third door. Ford's are on the passenger side, but expect to see others follow suit. It's too large a market to be ignored.